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Freestyle Libre 2 inaccurate

B

BlueBerry11

Member
Hi everyone,

I’m new here and recently diagnosed with LADA. Have been started on a background insulin 3 weeks ago (no changes yet, but upping dose every 3 days so hopefully changes soon!)

I was also prescribed the Freestyle Libre 2 which was a godsend as I just hate the finger prick tests. However after the first sensor worked well, I’ve now had two that give wildly inaccurate readings, telling me I’m having a hypo when in fact my blood sugar is 12.5!

i called Abbott with the first dodgy one and they agreed it was faulty and are sending replacement. I am now having this again with the one I put on after. Is it possible I’ve had two dodgy sensors in a row?? Or should I prepare myself that the Freestyle Libre just does not work for me?

I’ve done a bit of reading online now and will put the next sensor on 24-48 hours in advance without activating. I activated these two immediately which might be why they are inaccurate. Should I keep trying with my current one (been on for over 24 hours now)?

sorry for the many questions, I’m new to all of this!
 
Hi Annevl

Sorry to hear about the issues you are having with Libre 2. Unfortunately it is not impossible that you have had 2 sensors which are inaccurate. I had 2 fail just yesterday.

It is worth remembering that there is about a ten minute lag between blood glucose and the Libre reading. I have found sometimes that when you check with Libre ten minutes or more after a finger prick the 2 readings maybe closer. Abbot will ask you about this. They will also ask for three readings where there is a discrepancy

I do put my sensor usually 24 hours in advance and that seems to help.

Good luck I hope things improve
 

Hello,

Welcome to the forum.

The false hypo readings. Are they happening whilst asleep?
If this happens scanning whilst awake.
Could it be possible clothing could be causing a “compression” low? (False reading.)
Though I hasten to add, the recent weather & season would probably discount the idea..

You mention your first Libre was OK when you were first prescribed insulin. Was this fitted by yourself or an HCP?
 
Could the sensors have been effected by recent extreme heat if they were being stored in a room that got too warm? The timing would be about right.
 
I use the x-drip app which means I can add calibrations. My experience of the Libre is that it's good for trends rather then being accurate when out of a normal range. I used to always finger prick to check readings above or below of my normal range. It takes 24 to 48 hours to settle so helps if you insert it before activating the sensor. I now self-fund a Dexcom G6 but still finger prick to check readings.
 
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So sorry for the late reply! I completely forgot which forum I posted on and could not find it again…like I said it’s all getting used to everything!

thank you everyone for commenting, really appreciate it! I spoke to Abbott who sent a new one. I put this on and even though the first day or so was inaccurate it then became way more accurate. I put my current one on 24 hours in advance and it’s been accurate.

I definitely notice the lag between finger prick and Libre, particularly after eating or exercise which makes sense I suppose!

I’m slowly learning and have had a couple hypos which although scary the Libre helped me with and I can pinpoint pretty well why they happened (heat/exercise etc)

thanks again and I’m sure I’ll be back with more questions whilst on this initial journey!
 
Reactions: FR
I had a 2.9 reading after breakfast and prick on my finger said 5.9. I switch alarm off at bedtime as I got fed up with false alarms
 
Reactions: FR
I’ve also found I have a ‘dodgy’ inaccurate sensor that I report and return to Abbott for every 2-3 sensors - I’ve asked my DN for advice on switching to Dexcom which I’ve read is more accurate. Think it might take a while to switch to Dexcom based on her response to get back to her in 2-3months time
 
The libre 2 probably saved my life waking me up with the alarm. (I'm quoting these figures from memory so they may be a bit off). The libre test when the alarm went off was 3.9 and finger prick was 2.1. I had 1 litre (yes, 1 litre over 45 minutes) of orange juice and my blood sugar did not rise based on both libre and contour plus meter. I'm thinking now that I should have had creon with the orange juice (because my pancreas doesn't produce amalayse properly) but I don't know. Anyway, if that alarm did not go off when I was asleep I'd have done nothing because I wouldn't have known. So, did it save my life? Maybe. I don't know because I don't know how low my BSL can go. It gave me the opportunity to do finger pricks and call an ambulance though. For that I'm grateful and I am sticking with libre even if it's "inaccurate" sometimes. For what it's worth they did venous BSL test at hospital (not capillary like glucometers) and the difference between my libre and their test was just 0.1 mmol/L
 
I am T2 and have only ever used the original Libres. But I found I needed to wait 48 hours between insertion and activation, otherwise I got very low. erratic readings, presumably compressions issues , particularly overnight for those two days before they behaved as they should. So I think it's worth trying a longer settling in period to see if that helps.

I used a Libre reader to activate mine and it could tell (I believe from the serial number) which was the current active sensor, so I used to insert a new one 2 days in advance and wait till the old one expired before activating it.
 
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